October 11, 2021
Dear William Paterson Faculty and Staff,
It was wonderful to welcome Pioneer alumni back to campus over the weekend for Homecoming and Family Day. I’m glad so many students, faculty and staff, along with friends and family, were able to join us for a great series of events bringing together our community. If you were able to join us, I hope you also had the chance to meet Pio, our new mascot, and hear William Paterson’s new, first-ever spirit song. Congratulations to Pioneers football for their big 48-28 victory over Christopher Newport University, and thanks to everyone in divisions and departments across campus who helped make this event a great success, especially Institutional Advancement, including Alumni Relations, and Student Development, including Campus Activities, Service and Leadership (CASL), and Athletics and Recreation. I know our alumni and their families really enjoyed it and appreciated the chance to return to campus and reconnect. Check your email later today for another message from me with more about the introduction of both Pio and the spirit song to the WP community.
Today, we celebrate Indigenous People’s Day for the first time since it was recently made a Federal holiday. Today is also Columbus Day. While some may see these holidays as in direct conflict with each other, we must honor different groups’ celebration of history and themes that are significant to them if we are to continue to strive to form a more perfect Union.
I am pleased that, thanks to widespread vaccination and adherence to mask and testing requirements on campus, along with improving rates in our region, we have been able to resume so many in-person campus activities, like Homecoming. However, we all must be mindful that we remain in a pandemic. As such, it is important to stay aware of the campus mask status. Recently, the WP community was notified that the status moved from high/red – the strictest category – to substantial/orange. While this positive shift removes the requirement that vaccinated people mask indoors and outdoors in large groups, masking is still recommended in these situations and still required of the unvaccinated. Everyone must still mask where academic instruction takes place, including in the Cheng Library, as well as the Counseling, Health and Wellness Center, the Athletic Training Room, nursing clinical and lab settings, and the Speech and Hearing Clinic. Click here for the complete masking policy.
We should all still have masks with us wherever we go on campus, as there may be masking requirements in individual offices and locations, as well as at events where vaccination status cannot be determined or where there is sustained contact and social distancing cannot be maintained.
Thank you to everyone who came to the Cheng Library Auditorium for last week’s Budget and Enrollment Forum or watched the livestream. I know that a lot of the information presented was difficult to hear, but I fully believe that, working together as a University community, we will forge a path toward a stronger William Paterson. Thanks to Vice President Guillermo de Veyga and Vice President Reg Ross for their thoughtful and comprehensive presentations, which I hope gave everyone a good understanding of the overall environment in which we are operating and a basis for thinking about how we can best proceed in addressing our challenges. For those who weren’t able to join us or who want to review the presentation, it can be found here.
This week’s WP: We are Proud – Congratulations to J. Cole Rinck, Senior Associate Director, Athletics and Recreation, and Erin Stelma, Associate Director, Recreational Services, along with everyone on their departmental and student staff for having their good work recognized in Campus Rec Magazine, where the William Paterson Sports and Recreation Center is featured as “Rec of the Month.” As the story notes, the Rec Center plays a key role in Recreational Services’ mission “to enhance the quality of life of all participants through diverse recreational and educational programs designed to promote health and wellness, social interaction, lifelong learning, and the constructive use of leisure time.” As also noted, prior to the pandemic, WP intramurals were on course to have their highest levels of participation across all students, first-year students, and female-identifying students. While things necessarily changed during the pandemic, staff members went out of their way to find creative ways to deliver on their mission, both virtually and, safely and to the extent possible at the time, in person.
Have a great week, everyone.
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Sincerely,
Richard J. Helldobler, Ph.D.
President
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